Pakistan and the United States agreed to keep working together to counter terrorism during a recent dialogue. The details of the dialogue were shared on May 13, 2024.
During the U.S.-Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue, held on May 10 in Washington DC, the leaders talked about how they can fight against groups like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K).
Additional Foreign Secretary for the UN and OIC, Ambassador Syed Haider Shah, and U.S. Department of State Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Elizabeth Richard, co-chaired the Counterterrorism Dialogue in Washington DC.
Pakistan and US discuss jointly countering Afghan-based IS and TTP terrorists for regional security
“Pakistan and the United States recognize that a partnership to counter Daesh-Khorasan (Daesh-Khorasan), TTP and other terrorist organizations will advance security in the region and serve as a model of bilateral and regional cooperation to address transnational terrorism threats,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.
“Both governments resolved to increase communication on these topics and continue collaboration to detect and deter violent extremism through whole-of-government approaches.”
The meeting was all about figuring out how they can work together to fight terrorism in the area. They talked about different ways they can help each other, like sharing ideas and training each other’s security forces.
They also talked about how the U.S. has already trained over 300 police officers and other frontline workers since they last talked about this stuff in March 2023.
The two sides agreed that by working together, they can make the region safer and show others how countries can team up to fight terrorism. U.S. and Pakistani officials also vowed to keep talking about this and to work together to stop extremism.
Pakistan and the U.S. have been talking about counterterrorism for a while. They met last year too and said they would keep fighting terrorism together.
“The Counterterrorism Dialogue reaffirms Pakistan’s and the United States’ shared determination to contribute to both regional and global security and stability,” the statement added.
Pakistan has seen more terrorist attacks lately, especially in places like KP and Balochistan, ever since the TTP started fighting with the government again in November 2022. Last year, there were a lot of violent attacks in Pakistan. A report said there were over 1,500 people killed and more than 1,400 injured in 789 attacks and counter-attacks. Most of these happened in KP and Balochistan.
Full Text of U.S.- Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue joint statement
Friday, Department of State Coordinator for Counterterrorism Ambassador Elizabeth Richard and Pakistan’s Additional Foreign Secretary for the UN and OIC Ambassador Syed Haider Shah co-chaired the U.S.-Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue.
The Counterterrorism Dialogue underscores the cooperation between the United States and Pakistan in addressing the most pressing challenges to regional and global security, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and ISIS-Khorasan.
Discussions centered on the counterterrorism landscape in the region, with a focus on areas of mutual interest. U.S. and Pakistani senior officials emphasized the importance of expanded counterterrorism collaboration and capacity building, including exchanges of technical expertise and best practices, investigative and prosecutorial assistance, provision of border security infrastructure and training, including the United States training of more than 300 police and frontline responders since the last U.S.-Pakistan Counterterrorism Dialogue in March 2023, and strengthening multilateral engagement such as in the UN and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.
The United States and Pakistan recognize that a partnership to counter ISIS-Khorasan, TTP, and other terrorist organizations will advance security in the region and serve as a model of bilateral and regional cooperation to address transnational terrorism threats. Both governments resolved to increase communication on these topics and continue collaboration to detect and deter violent extremism through whole-of-government approaches. The Counterterrorism Dialogue reaffirms the United States’ and Pakistan’s shared determination to contribute to both regional and global security and stability.